System and method for operating a food preparation device

Abstract

A food preparation device or system which utilizes pre-packaged food containers to prepare a food item for consumption. The food preparation device is structured to receive multiple pre-packaged containers. Additionally, the food preparation device includes one or more processors to verify that each of the multiple containers include one or more ingredients for preparing a selected dish, and further that an order in which the multiple containers are individually received in the base corresponds to a sequence in which the individual food items of the multiple containers are to be introduced into a cooking receptacle during preparation of the dish.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for operating a food preparation device, the food preparation device including a processor, a memory, a network interface, and a camera that is in communication with the processor, the method comprising:
 storing, locally in the memory of the food preparation device, information about a collection of pre-packaged containers, each container of the collection of pre-packaged containers including one or more food items and a machine-readable code that identifies the one or more food items; 
 receiving, by the processor of the food preparation device, a set of instructions from a user device to prepare a dish, the set of instructions identifying a recipe, and the recipe identifying ingredients; 
 determining, by the processor, a set of containers from the collection of pre-packaged containers, the set of containers selected to provide the ingredients identified by the recipe; 
 receiving, in a base of the food preparation device, the set of containers, wherein each container in the set is received individually in an order; 
 reading, by a machine reader of the food preparation device, the machine-readable code provided on each of the received containers; 
 verifying, by the processor, based on the stored information and the machine-readable code provided on each of the received containers, (i) that the set of received containers includes the ingredients identified by the recipe, and (ii) that the order in which the containers of the set are individually received in the base corresponds to a sequence in which the one or more food items in each of the received containers are to be introduced into a cooking receptacle during preparation of the dish according to the recipe; 
 controlling, by the processor, a track member of the food preparation device to move each of the received containers vertically from the base to a position above the cooking receptacle for engagement by an extraction mechanism; 
 extracting, by the extraction mechanism, the one or more food items from each of the received containers into the cooking receptacle; 
 controlling, by the processor, a motorized movement of a manipulator to manipulate the extracted food items based on the recipe, the motorized movement having characteristics of a type of mixing, a duration, and a range of movement; 
 while controlling the motorized movement of the manipulator, controlling a temperature of the cooking receptacle to cook the extracted food items based on the recipe; 
 transmitting, by the camera in communication with the processor and over the network interface, image data of the food preparation device; and 
 based on the image data, transmitting, to a mobile device, display content, wherein the display content identifies information about the food items that are being cooked and manipulated. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the set of instructions further include instructions to modify the recipe. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein controlling the temperature of the cooking receptacle further comprises:
 controlling a duration during which the extracted food items are cooked in the cooking receptacle based on the recipe. 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the display content identifies an amount of time remaining for the extracted food items to be cooked. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the display content identifies steps that are yet to be performed before the extracted food items are prepared. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the manipulator is a jointed food manipulator.